No Thanksgiving for the Weary...

Last week was full of Chekhovian craziness! OK, that's not entirely true but it sounded cool. We really dove right into rehearsing our scenes. We were also ramping up for our numerous assessments that took place this week (more on that next entry!). Nothing too exciting happened on the academic front. I had loads of meetings because, surprisingly enough, I am our MA Acting Year Representative. You are all shocked I am sure. So, I learned a lot about how this school ticks, in fact. And let me tell you, it is a far cry from Muhlenberg College! It's not nearly as organized, and as East 15 is currently interviewing for a new Head of School, it's a tad on the chaotic side. Eh, it'll all work out soon enough.

The depressing part of the week was definitely Thanksgiving Day. As it is not widely celebrated here, OK, not at all, it sure was lonely. I also woke up quite ill with a rough cold and a sty on my left eye. Joyous. I headed to the doctor, got in without having to pay a co pay (that still blows my mind) and came back to sit on my couch, alone, watching "Bewitched," and generally feeling sorry for myself. A friend of mine knew how miserable I was and had everybody at school send me adorable text messages wishing me a speedy recovery and a Happy Thanksgiving. Real friends, I tell you.

On Saturday, I was able to take an all-day workshop with my old acting teacher from Muhlenberg, Devon Allen. She flew over to London for the weekend to teach a class called "The Epic Body" at a place called The Actors Centre. It was fantastic! It was so great to see her and to catch up. I haven't seen her in 7 years and it was a nice touch of home. I learned a lot that day and remembered why she was one of the best teachers I've ever had. Then, my friend Olivia met me and we had dinner in China town and went to see the closing night of Summer and Smoke. I had to do a scene from that in college in Acting 1 with a guy called John Moletress, taught by Devon in fact. It was a proper Mule-y weekend! ;) Man, I love me some Tennessee Williams!

Sunday was a treat. Because I was so bummed about missing Turkey Day, my friends had a makeshift holiday dinner in my honor. We had nothing close to Thanksgiving food but it didn't matter. We had Israeli salad provided by moi, leftovers from Kirsty's brother's 21st birthday bash, including chicken curry, chicken casserole, and chili, as well as a beautiful citrus-tastic dessert made by Russ Hope himself. We DID go around the table saying something that we were thankful for. That was sweet and the general feeling was that we were all thankful to be doing what we have all dreamed about doing, in a great place, with new and incredible friends for life. I must thank Miranda, Olivia, Kirsty, Russ, Mark, and Jenni for making a homesick girl feel more welcome than she's felt in a long time...

Happy Belated Turkey Day y'all! :)

Two Weeks of Insanity...

A two-week catch-up:

Greetings from Londontown! I have been in a whirlwind, as usual, so this is going to cover 2 weeks! Sorry...

A couple of weeks ago, we tackled Laban technique with Sara. Rudolph Laban was a German practitioner that looked at movement in regards to an effort scale. We played with the opposite nature of movement in our bodies and how you can incorporate these sensations into a character's movement and emotional life. For instance, you can play opposites, one external and one internal, to give your character such incredible depth. It was an amazing, movement-filled, creative week that examined our postures, our walks and our natural tendencies within movement. Here is the Laban Effort graph to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about:



I have to mention that I love being a student here in London. There are so many opportunities to get cheap tickets!!! Last Saturday I saw 2 shows for about $40 total. That's impossible to do in NYC. The matinee show that we saw was called Blue on Blue at a pub theatre venue called Theatre 503. A company called Shotgun produced it. They have a "gym" in their space where actors, directors, writers, etc. can go to work on their craft. You can work monologues and scenes, develop plays and new works, etc. The show was amazing and their work ethic really reflected in their production. I hope to get involved with them in the future. Afterwards, 4 of us ran around the West End to try and find last minute, student concession tickets. We ended up at the Wyndham Theatre seeing a play by John Mortimer called Voyage Round My Father. It was brilliant. And it was nice to go into a show not knowing anything about it. A truly fresh look. All four of us loved it and I am so glad we got cheap tickets! ;)



This week we settled back into the groove with Brian, our acting teacher that we will now be with until the end of term. There are three groups of MA Actors and we are each with one of the three acting tutors working on scenes from Russian authors. We are tackling scenes from 4 different plays. A Month in the Country by Turganev and Platonov, Uncle Vanya and The Seagull by Chekhov. We read through them all this week and were given our parts on Friday. I was cast as Arkadina in The Seagull and I am thrilled! It's an incredible role and I can't wait to sink my teeth into it! We will then show our work before all of the groups as well as staff. We are so excited to really get started. To be honest, I never really understood Chekhov fully until I had the tremendous fortune of doing The Cherry Orchard in Seattle. I now truly see the intimacy of his characters and their plots and the beauty with which he wrote. What a treat.

Yesterday, my friend Russ and I headed to the Menier Chocolate Factory (where I saw The Last Five Years ) to see Little Shop of Horrors. It starred Michael McShane (big Canadian guy from Who's Line is it Anyway?) as the plant. It was all right. Not tremendous. It seemed underehearsed and the technical difficulties totally distracted both the audience as well as the performers. It seemed as though no one really recovered gracefully. To be fair, this was only their second preview so I hope they pick it up. It's a wonderful venue and they usually produce great work, I hope this is no different in the end...

Today, I traveled to Godalming (about a 40 minute train ride Southwest of London) to see my oldest friend in Britain, Will Baldwin. We met when I was studying abroad at Goldsmith’s College during the fall of '97. He is a true friend and it was great to see where he is living - the cutest, quaintest village that I have seen. He teaches Psychology A Levels (16-18 year olds) and is basically, a sweetheart. I had a great day.





This coming Tuesday will mark my third week of tap class. I love teaching my fellow MA'ers! Everyone is so incredibly enthusiastic and I am having such a blast! We meet on Tuesday nights at 7pm for an hour and are tapping up a storm. It's definitely a highlight of my week.

OK, I think that takes us up to the present. I will try and be better with posting every week as I was doing before. I will make an effort to find the time - I know how important it is for me to chronicle this journey for myself as well as for you all. Hope you are well...

Sully's Arrival...

I apologize for the long delay in posting; it's been a bit hectic 'round these parts. Last week at East 15 our group was back with Rhys. We looked at uniting and actioning a text - a concept that eluded me for a good while. I figured it out in the end. And we also took stabs at cold readings. This is where I count by blessings for the time that I spent auditioning and working in Seattle. The ability to pick up a script and be comfortable with the language and any physicality that may be needed comes, in my opinion, largely from experience. And that is what Seattle gave me.

In furrier news, my little munchkin, Sully, has finally arrived! Hallelujah! Wow, it was some drama to get this little fur ball overseas. He made the arduous trek on Continental Airlines all the way from Seattle (with a 2 hour layover in Houston, I might add). He was in surprisingly good spirits when he reached me. He is so chill. We have been hanging out and trying to acquaint him with Tilly, my housemate's kitty. That part isn't going so swimmingly. Sully just wants to be friends but Tilly is having none of it. We'll see how this one plays out...



I also attended a Bonfire Night party, complete with fireworks! It commemorates Guy Fawkes Day and it was a blast. My thanks to Miranda, Olivia, & Kirsty for hosting. There's obviously no 4th of July, so I'll have to take my fireworks in November. Not so bad. (Back Row: Esther; Middle Row: Jenni, Sophie, Helen, Amanda, Me; Front Row: Rachel)



Sorry for the boring nature of this post, I promise the next installment will be more invigorating! Just keep watching this space...

PS - We were RED this week with Marcio - HOT HOT HOT! ;)